University of MD Baltimore Life Science Discovery (UM-BILD)

Wed, 21 Feb 2024 13:00:25 -0500

Call for Letters of Intent to fund commercialization of health-care technologies

The University of Maryland Baltimore Life Science Discovery (UM-BILD) Accelerator is pleased to announce that we are accepting applications from teams led by faculty or staff members of our participating institutions. The goal is to translate basic-science research projects into commercial products that will advance patient care.

Investigators working on technologies in the therapeutic, medical device, diagnostic, and digital health areas are encouraged to apply. Projects with the potential to address healthcare disparities or otherwise benefit the people of Baltimore are particularly welcome. Early-stage ideas are suitable. Educating and mentoring innovators are key parts of the UM-BILD initiative, so familiarity with entrepreneurship is not a prerequisite.

The window for submission of a Letter of Intent (LOI) for the September 2024 award cycle is now open and closes March 30, 2024. On a rolling basis, selected teams will be invited to give a 5-minute pitch and submit the full application. Project milestones and other details will be jointly determined by the applying team and UM-BILD. We will match teams with Project Managers, Entrepreneurs in Residence, and subject-area experts to craft an effective, realistic proposal.

Each year-long project will receive up to $75,000, with a second year of funding possible.

Who can apply? Letters of Intent may be submitted by faculty of:
• The University of Maryland, Baltimore
• The University of Maryland, Baltimore County
• Morgan State University
• University of Maryland, College Park (for teams with a partner at UMB)

• Faculty at other Baltimore City public universities can also qualify.

Joint applications and inter-university teams are encouraged. Technologies must be disclosed to the Technology Transfer Office at the investigator’s university and be assigned to the university or subject to university ownership, by the LOI submission deadline.

The one-page Letter of Intent should cover these topics:
1) Name the members of your team.
2) Describe your technology and include relevant IP and/or IP disclosure(s).
3) Identify the health-care problem that this technology could help to solve. What could your product or service be? Who would be its customers?
4) Sketch the current status of your project. (Is the biochemical pathway identified? Have in vivo proof of concept experiments been run? Have you built an initial prototype? Clinical validation?)

5) Briefly outline the key milestones of a year-long project with a $75,000 budget.

LOI details:
• Set margins at 0.5 inches, all around. Use 11-point type and single spacing.
• A single image or figure can be included, with the legend at 10 points or larger.
• Include 2 to 8 references, as hyperlinks to PubMed or a patent archive such as USPTO.gov.
• Email UM-BILD@umaryland.edu, with your LOI attached (.pdf, .docx, or .doc format).
Questions? Write to Jason Rose, MD, MBA, Executive Director, at UM-BILD@umaryland.edu